St Modwen to develop New Covent Garden
PROPERTY developer St Modwen and French group Vinci have won a £2bn project to redevelop the New Covent Garden flower and vegetable market in London’s Nine Elms.
The government revealed yesterday the pair had been picked as the preferred partners for the 57-acre scheme, beating a rival bid from Bouygues UK and private equity firm Carlyle Group.
The Nine Elms Opportunity Area, which spans 450 acres from Vauxhall Station along the South Bank to Battersea Power Station, is one of London’s large regeneration projects.
The American Embassy will also relocate from Grosvenor Square to its new headquarters in Nine Elms by 2017.
Work on New Covent Garden Market is due to start in 2013 and will release 20 acres of land, enough to create 2,800 new homes as well as new commercial and public space.
“We are really pleased to have won this,” said Bill Oliver, St Modwen chief executive, adding that the market’s 200 business tenants will remain on site during the process, making it a complicated task.
“With Vinci we have a very capable contractor that enables us to handle what is a complex proposal,” he said.